There’s No Place Like Holmes (part 2)

We’re back with part two of our annual festival of comic goodness we call HOLMES INCORPORATED.   Today’s cover is brought to you by the letters “Daniel” and “Wong”, who turned in an action packed image that gives our family something to do on a slow Tuesday.  YIKES!

Yesterday we sneak peaked you into the first of TWO all new volumes for this summer, showing off FIVE (5) amazing new tales of the Holmes family in all their generations. Today, we bring you the second (2nd) of TWO (2) issues this year, with yet ANOTHER five fantastic features, and it’s also, officially, a doozy!

If you need to read the other slam-packed issues of Holmes Inc. , they’re all up online for FREE here!

Onwards to the new stuff!  WOO HOO!

Starting off the issue with a bang (literally) we have newcomer Dave Franciosa showing off his splash page skills over a roller coaster ride of a script by Sam Noir.  Blow out the hero’s knee with a gun blast from a mysterious monster at the door, and set the scales at life or death…. THAT’S how  you start a story!  I’ll bet you want to read more, right?

There’s that Franciosa fellow again, doing layouts this time, with Jason Roussel and Matthew Tavares finishing the pencils, and Christopher Yao inking, over top of character and prop designs from Rachael Wells.   This issue features a couple of jam stories by the whole Holmes Inc. Bullpen  (we were over-abundant with eager writers to the tune of two) and had to create art-teams to give life to a couple of our instant classic scripts.

Well, when James Cooper wrote a tale that absolutely everyone in the group wanted to work on, that’s what happened.  And it turns out that there’s some advantage in splitting up the layout/pencils and inks because the pages look better than the sum of their parts.  Who knew?

First time contributor Taran Chadha didn’t work on the jam story because he was busy showing off his multi-level skills on a story he wrote, drew and grey toned all by his own self.  And WOW is the only word we can use.    Only the really good ones make it look so easy.

With an utterly charming script from Holmes Inc. super-veteran Mike Marano (who doubled as assistant editor for this star turn…ye editor is SO proud), we see our next jam story.  This time laid out by the inimitable Rachael Wells and, penciled and inked by the whole gang (including some special guest stars from previous issues!) this story introduces us to another of Mike’s fantastic guest star characters!  Is she a new love interest for Edgar Holmes….or will she DESTROY HIM?!?

Ye editor pitched in with an art job of his own this year, with a story by second time Holmes Inc. author, Oliver Ho, that I had to get my hands on.  It’s spooky meets science-y, wrapped up in a mystery, and I got to draw Chinese Water Dragons, so everybody wins.

If you’re in Toronto, come on down to the FanExpo convention, meet the creators, and pick up your own copy (while supplies last, I suspect we might sell out of these mini-masterpieces).

ALSO:  Come on down to the FanExpo to hear me give out FREE lectures on creating comics for fun and profit.  Today’s lecture (which is, I think going on in the early afternoon 6:45pm Room 705) is called “How to Write a Plot in Under an Hour!”  There’s room for lots of people, so bring a friend!

Ty the Guy OUT!

For your Bonus Moment?  A map of Hall E

24 hour Comic Challenge Tribute Bun Toons YAY!

Behold the work of others!

This one explains itself.  No further ado.

None.

TY THE GUY OUT!

So, this time, you get TONS Of bonus moments:  It’s links to a bunch of the comics created during this 24 hour challenge.  Enjoy them in somewhat alphabetical order.  There`s excellent treasures to be found here…

The delightful adventures of GIMP by Aaron Broverman. Click through to read ’em.

A Sci-Fi themed story (with a bit of a Star Trek flavour) from the marvelous minds of Aaron Feldman (writer) and Rebecca Slack. (art) Click to read…

Don’t click if you have a fear of SPIDERS! For Adam Gorham’s monstrously gorgeous tale of outer space arachnids awaits!

Another Star Trek themed adventure, feature a pair of Ferengi who get into all sorts of trouble when they…well, read it and find out!  By Beautiful BRICE HALL.

This one, by artist Christopher Yao and writer James Cooper, was finished with HOURS to spare! Poor Chris had wrist cramps for days! Behold the wonder of SAD ROBOT!

Jason Roussel created this fascinating stream-of-almost-unconsciousness tale that reads like an acid trip through Metropolis. And I mean that in a GOOD way. Click and read.

This surprisingly touching story called `Legacies`is by Kawai Shen. This story will be enjoyed by anyone with older relatives, or even orphans who wish they had one. And I love that her website is called `cute juice`.

Mark Parasio`s Woman on the Run is an exciting read for MORE than the thriller plot, but for the ambitious and colourful art as well! (This one opens in facebook)

Speaking of colour…you are NOT prepared for what Ricky Lima did for his 24 project….using the scissors more than a pencil, and his imagination more than he had a right to, click through to `Huma…am`

Rodrigo Bravo tells this story almost entirely without words. He doesn`t need them. Comics at their most pure: Read THE LAST DAY, and wipe away a tear.

Tony Smerek gives us an uplifting tale of demon worship and goats in the very charming `MALEK`TH, LORD OF THE BURN`.

For MORE on the whole 24 Hour Comic Book Challenge, head over to the Comic Book Bootcamp website for deets.

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For the Bun Toon that started the year, click here.

For all the Bun Toons for 2012, 2011 and earlier, click the Bunny

The Countdown BEGINS: Monday

The countdown to Fan Expo Canada 2012 begins!!  It’s Monday, so it’s only…no, don’t want to know, I have too much to do before Thursday’s opening at 4pm.

But–one of the things I need to do is show off some of the amazing art that came out of this year’s Fit-to-Print Holmes Incorporated workshop! 21 creators working together in different teams produced an incredible Issue 3!

Art by Adam Gorham, colours by Ty Templeton

First up, is Night of the Living, written by James Cooper , art by Brice Hall. This is the second Holmes Inc. for James, and Brice Hall’s first, but he took to it like an old pro. Besides art duties, Brice lettered his pages.  Gaze upon their beauty and wonder!  And you’ll get a chance to buy the issue at FANEXPO, or read the issue online in just another week or so…FOR FREE!!

story by James Cooper; art/letters by Brice Hall

Next up…Hologram Holmes written by Adira Rotstein. Although Adira is new to the world of comic book writing, she’s an established author having published her first YA novel, Little Jane Silver last fall (the sequel is currently in editing). She wrote a fun but touching story about our Holmes family that you’re going to LOVE when you read the full thing.

Eric Houstoun has the pencil duties on this story, his first ever published comic art.  I jumped in to add some inks and greytones (at Eric’s request), and the whole thing ended up being one of the most charming Holmes Inc. stories we’ve ever run.  See for yourself…

story by Adira Rotstein, pencils by Eric Houstoun

This issue of Holmes Incorporated includes a batch of ONE PAGE stories, each written by a different author, and each beautifully drawn by the Holmes Inc. veteran JEFF LONGSTREET.   The first of this group was written by another Holmes contributor who’s been with us since issue #1, Mighty Mike Marano.

We had two first-time participants for the next story, but you can’t tell.  Terror of Penitence House,  written by Oliver Ho (who first took my Writing for Comics class last summer, but he has been taking classes elsewhere, and all that learnin’ shows) . Eduardo Suarez Florido handsomely rose to the challenge of illustrating this spooky story using some techniques involving a computer and one of them new fangled drawing pads.  The final result is a tour de force of mystery and tension.

story by Oliver Ho, art by Eduardo Suarez Florido

And THAT’S just your taste of the first quarter of the quietly magnificent new issue we have coming your way!! Holmes Incorporated #3 will be available for sale at Fan Expo this weekend (as of Friday), in Booth 614, at Holmes Inc. Alumni Rachael Well’s booth A165, and at the Templeton-Smiths tables in Artists Alley, P30A and P30B, as well as a few other spots in the building.   Stop by and pick up your copy, and stay tuned for news on when you can download this issue digitally for FREE!  We’re here for the students and we’re here for the readers.  We want everyone to enjoy this one.

Who says this isn’t the Comic Book Bootcamp Age of Comics?

Ty the Guy OUT!!

Here now,  your BONUS Holmes Inc. Comic Book Moment:

Unpublished promotional artwork for Holmes Inc. #2 by Dawnson Chen.

 AND! If you’d like to learn how to write and draw your own comics, just like these creators did…be sure to check out the courses over at my Comic Book Bootcamp. There are still some spaces available in Writing for Comics Part One, and Drawing the Human Figure from your head.